


Bobbing For Love

by Jellybean96



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Established Relationship, F/M, Family Feels, Family Fluff, First Meetings, Fluff, Halloween, Pre-Relationship, Single Parent Clarke Griffin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-31
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:48:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,849
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27297406
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jellybean96/pseuds/Jellybean96
Summary: Clarke loves Halloween, always goes all out with everything the holiday entails. Bellamy's a little more indifferent, doing the bare minimum when it comes to costumes. Then they meet at a mutual friend's Halloween party one year and everything changes. For the better, of course.
Relationships: Bellamy Blake & Harper McIntyre, Bellamy Blake/Clarke Griffin, Clarke Griffin & Harper McIntyre, Monty Green/Harper McIntyre (Background)
Comments: 12
Kudos: 64
Collections: bellarkescord halloween gift exchange





	Bobbing For Love

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Miss_Princess_Blake](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miss_Princess_Blake/gifts).



> Hey babes! Got a fun little Halloween Bellarke fic here. This was written for the super cool Ali for a Halloween gift exchange we were a part of. It's pretty cute and fun if I do say so myself.
> 
> Enjoy!

Pushing open the front doors to the community center, Clarke tightens her hold on Madi’s hand just enough to keep from running off. She knows the little girl is excited to see all of her friends and have fun, but Clarke needs to take a moment to make sure her head is on straight before she lets her daughter run off to go find Jordan. She’s also excited to see some of her friends too, of course. She always is. But unlike her daughter, she has a bit more self-control.

Right on cue, Madi lets out an exasperated groan. “Mommy. Can I go find Jordan now? Pleeease?”

Clarke lets out a heavy sigh and nods. “Yes. Coat off first, please.”

Madi quickly sheds her winter coat, tosses it up at Clarke, and then darts off through the room in search of her best friend.

Clarke lets out another sigh as she hangs both hers and Madi’s coats on the rack right next to her. 

“Clarke! You made it!”

Turning at her name, Clarke smiles brightly at the woman approaching her, accepting the hug. “Harper, hey. Of course, we did. Madi hasn’t stopped talking about this all week once she realized it was happening.”

“She wasn’t driving you crazy about it, was she?” Harper asks.

Clarke lets out a laugh. “She’s five, Harper.”

Harper nods with a laugh of her own. “Right.” She takes a deep breath and stands a little straighter. “Well, you know the lay of the land, so go ahead and put your cookies on the table and have fun mingling.”

Clarke smiles. “I will, thanks.” She gives Harper’s arm a small squeeze as she walks past her toward the dessert table, already packed full of various treats and snacks. She sets her Tupperware of cookies on the table, shifting a few of the trays of bowls to make a little more space.

“I don’t know what to have first. Everything looks so good.”

Turning a little toward the unfamiliar voice, Clarke gives the tall, dark-haired man standing next to her a small smile. “Well, whatever you pick, you can’t go wrong.”

He looks at her and smiles softly. “So I’ve heard from the hostess. Harper really loves Halloween.”

“Oh, she’s not the only one,” Clarke tells him with a small laugh. “My dad was always big on Halloween, so he passed that love on to me. Once I met Harper and knew how much she loved Halloween, we instantly clicked.”

“That’s awesome. How long have you known Harper?”

Clarke tilts her head as she thinks. “Um…about six or so years, I think. We were both pregnant when we met, so that was another great way for us to connect and bond.”

The man turns toward her more, raising one eyebrow. “You’re a mom.”

She nods, a smile coming to her face at the thought of her daughter. “I am. She’s the light of my life.”

“That’s great. I’m Bellamy, by the way,” he tells her, holding out a hand.

She accepts his hand. “Clarke.”

“Well, it’s nice to meet you, Clarke.”

“You too, Bellamy. And uh...interesting costume.” She takes a moment to really look his outfit up and down. A simple pair of blue jeans, and a white t-shirt with ‘ _ Error 404: Costume Not Found _ ’ written across it in black sharpie.

Bellamy laughs to himself, rubbing his hand over the back of his neck. “Yeah. I’m uh...I enjoy Halloween for the most part, but I’ve never exactly been the best at coming up with costumes. I don’t get as into it as most people I know do.”

She raises a brow. “You know that most retail stores have all kinds of costumes pre-done, right? You could easily get one of those.”

“But is it worth it to pay that much money for something I know I’m only going to be wearing to hand out candy or go to a party one night out of the year?”

She shrugs. “You could have someone make you a costume.”

He shakes his head. “I don’t like asking my friends to do that for me. Most of them have enough stuff to deal with during the holidays. I don’t want to put one more thing on them to do that they don’t really want to do.”

Clarke lets out a heavy sigh. “Well, it’s a good thing you’ve met me, then. Because I love making Halloween costumes. Next year, you’re going to have an actual costume.”

“Oh, is that so?” he asks with a raised brow and a smile.

She smiles back and nods. “Yes, it is. And since I know you’re friends with Harper, it won’t be that difficult for me to get a hold of you and make sure you have a good costume.”

“Something tells me I’m not going to win this debacle.”

“Smart man.”

There’s a brief lull in the conversation, and Clarke’s not entirely sure what’s going to happen next. She could easily turn around and engage in conversation with someone else nearby or walk away entirely in search of her daughter to make sure the five-year-old is okay. But it’s few and far between when she has a conversation with an adult that doesn’t make her want to walk away and never see the person again. This is one of those instances. She likes talking with Bellamy, even if she’s only just met him.

Thankfully, her daughter saves her from trying to recharge the conversation, running up to her out of breath, and her costume slightly askew. 

“Mommy!”

She smiles down at her daughter, barely catching her before the little girl barrels completely into her legs. “Hi, Madi. Are you having fun?”

Madi nods with a wide smile. “Yeah. Me and Jordan watched Jasper do the apple bobbing and then he tried to get us to do it but it’s too cold so we didn’t and now we’re playing hide-n-seek tag.”

Clarke laughs to herself at Madi’s enthusiasm. “That sounds very exciting.”

“Yep! He hasn’t caught me yet. I’m too sneaky.”

Clarke smiles, running a hand over her daughter’s hair. “I’m sure you are, baby.”

“Mommy, who’s that?” Madi asks, pointing up at Bellamy with the same curious gaze she usually has in her eyes.

Clarke glances up at the man before looking back at her daughter. “That’s Bellamy. Can you say hi?”

“Hi. I’m Madi.”

Bellamy smiles softly and it makes Clarke’s heart melt. “It’s very nice to meet you, Madi. I have a question for you.”

“Okay.”

“What exactly is hide-n-seek tag? I don’t think I’ve ever heard of that game.”

Madi beams, bouncing a little on her feet. “It’s so fun! It’s like where you hafta hide during hide-n-seek! But then once you get found, you hafta run before you get tagged. But sometimes the person tags you first. So they hafta run and hide.”

“Wow. That sounds like a very interesting game. You’ll have to teach me how to play it sometime.”

“Okay.”

“Maaadiii! Where aaare yoooou?”

Madi gasps, ducking quickly behind her mom’s legs. “That’s Jordan,” she whispers.

Clarke laughs and smiles down at her daughter. “Are you gonna hide?”

“Yeah. I love you, mommy.” Madi smiles up at her and then darts off across the floor to find a good hiding spot.

Clarke just smiles after her daughter’s retreating form, laughing quietly when she gets spotted by Jordan and proceeds to giggle and then continue running. She catches Harper’s eye across the room, sending the other woman a smile, knowing that she saw the exchange between the five-year-olds too.

“Your daughter is adorable.”

Clarke turns back to Bellamy and smiles. “Thanks. She’s my whole world.”

“Well, you and her father must be pretty happy to have her.”

She hesitates for only a moment, not sure how much of her tragic past she wants to share with this virtual stranger. But then she sees the look on his face and she finds herself not minding. She shifts on her feet. “He uh...we’re not together. Not anymore. We were for a little while, but it didn’t work out. Madi still sees him sometimes, but I have full custody. It was easier that way.”

“Ah. Well, I’m sorry to hear that things didn’t work out.”

Clarke shrugs. “It’s okay. There’s no bad blood, and Madi at least still knows who her dad is instead of constantly wondering.”

“Right. Well, in that case...I hope this isn’t too soon, but would you like to go out with me sometime?”

Her eyes go wide for a split second and then she relaxes, smiling easily. “I would love to.”

Stepping through the front doors of the community center, Clarke manages to hang onto Madi just long enough to get her coat off before the six-year-old goes running through the room. Most likely in search of her best friend so they can get into whatever mischief they usually do.

She hangs the three coats on the coat rack next to them and then grabs Bellamy’s hand, pulling him through the room on her own little quest. Her first stop is the refreshment table so she can drop off her cookies. Perfectly baked and decorated with the help of her two favorite people. Even if they did get more frosting on themselves instead of the cookies.

“Clarke, Bellamy.”

Turning at the voice, Clarke smiles brightly at Harper, pulling her into a hug. “Hey, Harper. Happy Halloween.”

“Happy Halloween to you guys too,” Harper replies, letting go of Clarke and pulling Bellamy into a quick hug. She takes a breath once the hug is done and steps back a little to get a better look at their costume. “Flynn Rider and Rapunzel,” she says with a smile. “Very nice. I almost didn’t recognize you. Who’s Madi dressed as?”

“Pascal,” Clarke tells her with a small laugh. “She was very excited to be able to do it this year since we didn’t last year because, according to her, we needed to have a Flynn Rider. As soon as she realized Bellamy was coming here with us this year, she practically demanded that this would be our costume.”

“Well, I can’t wait to see her,” Harper remarks. “I bet she looks adorable.” Harper shifts her attention to Bellamy. “It’s nice to see you in an actual costume this year.”

Bellamy glances down at his outfit and then back up, smiling with a small shrug. “Yeah, well, Clarke warned me last year.”

Clarke smiles at the memory. “I did. I don’t think he thought I was being serious.”

Harper snorts. “Clarke is very serious about Halloween.”

“So I’ve noticed. I don’t mind it, though. I’m learning to have fun with it.”

“Well that’s good,” Harper remarks. “Because I’m sure Clarke would have your head if you didn’t.”

Clarke’s eyes go wide. “Harper!” she admonishes playfully. “Don’t say things that’ll scare him off.”

Bellamy chuckles. “Don’t worry, Clarke. I’m not going anywhere.”

“Good.” She smiles up at him and rises on her toes just enough to press a gentle kiss to his lips.

“You know, it’s a good thing Murphy’s not here right now or he’d call you both out for being ‘disgustingly cute’,” Harper remarks.

Bellamy looks at her with a smile. “Well, then it’s a good thing he isn’t here.” He turns back to Clarke. “Shall we go mingle?”

Clarke nods, grabbing his hand in hers. “We shall.” She flashes Harper a friendly smile as she pulls Bellamy through the room again, in search of people they know. 

Over the last year, they’ve been getting to know each other a lot and became introduced to each other’s friend circles. Turns out, they have more friends in common than they realized. Which resulted in said friends laughing and joking because they’d been trying to get the two of them to meet for a while. But their schedules never lined up.

“Mommy! Bellamy!”

Clarke turns at the voice, laughing quietly when she sees Madi and Jordan running at full speed. Drops of water trail behind them and then she notices that Jordan’s hair is extremely damp, as is the collar of his costume shirt.

“What have you two been up to?” she questions, grabbing a nearby dishcloth and gesturing for Jordan to move closer so she can dry his hair a little. “Jordan, you look like only your head decided to go swimming.”

Jordan giggles. “I was apple bobbing,” he explains, his voice muffled just a bit by the section of towel hanging in his face.

“He stuck his whole head in!” Madi exclaims excitedly, bouncing a little on her feet. “And he got an apple!”

Clarke finishes with Jordan’s hair and then smooths it back down, giving him a small smile. “Well, that sounds like a lot of fun. Did you do it too, baby?” she asks her daughter, though she takes notice of her daughter's dry hair.

Madi shakes her head. “No. The water was cold.”

“Well, maybe they’ll have it again next year and it won’t be as cold,” Bellamy suggests.

Madi tilts her head, watching him. “Maybe. Mom?”

“Yeah, baby?”

“Can Bellamy help me with the pumpkin carving ‘cause uncle Monty’s helping Jordan?”

Clarke smiles. “Why don’t you ask him yourself?”

Madi turns to the man in question and gives him a small smile. “Bellamy?”

“Yes, Madi?”

She shuffles on her feet. “Can you...um, can you help me carve my pumpkin? Mommy usually helps me but I want you to this time.”

Bellamy smiles softly, squatting down in front of Madi. “I would love to.” He holds one hand out to her. “Lead the way.”

Clarke smiles as she watches Madi drag Bellamy off to a different part of the room where she knows the table is set up for pumpkin carving. Jordan runs a little to catch up with them, grabbing onto Bellamy’s other hand. 

She truly lucked out with this guy, the fact that he’s so great with Madi and doesn’t find her enthusiasm for Halloween to be a turn-off. She doesn’t think she could find a better guy. No matter how hard she tried.

As soon as they step inside the community center, Bellamy instinctively reaches forward to grab at Madi’s jacket that she’s struggling to remove. He knows it’ll just get thrown in his and Clarke’s general direction too if one of them doesn’t grab for it first. 

“Bellamy!” the seven-year-old shouts excitedly, bouncing a little on her feet. “I think there’s apple bobbing again!”

Bellamy laughs quietly as he helps her finish taking her jacket off. “I think you might be right, Madi. Are you gonna try it this year?”

Madi looks up at him with a determined face. “Yes, I am. I’m gonna do it. And I’m gonna get an apple.”

He smiles. “Well, I look forward to seeing you get one.”

“I’ll do it later. I’m gonna go find Jordan.” Without another word, Madi turns around and rushes through the crowd of people, expertly ducking and dodging the bodies as she goes.

Turning to the coat rack near them, he hangs Madi’s coat on one of the pegs, followed by his own coat and then Clarke’s. He looks to his girlfriend and takes a deep breath, holding out his hand for her to take. “So, what should we do first?” he asks, lacing their fingers together.

“First, I need to go put these cookies with the rest of the desserts.”

Bellamy nods. “Right, of course.”

“Then after that, let’s just mingle.” She smiles up at him. “We’re at a party with our friends.”

“That we are.” He leans down to give her a quick kiss, smiling when he pulls away. “Let’s go mingle, then.” He gently tugs on her hand and then they’re walking side by side toward the dessert table, greeting a few familiar faces on the way.

Once the cookies are on the table amongst the other treats, Clarke and Bellamy make the rounds, grabbing drinks and saying hello to any of their friends who are also in attendance. They find Harper easily enough, the annual hostess always making sure that her guests are having a good time. No matter how much they or her husband tries to convince her to just relax and have a good time herself. But she prefers to spend most of her time making sure her guests are enjoying themselves.

“Harper,” Clarke calls out, getting the other woman’s attention.

Harper turns toward them with a smile. “Hey, you guys.” She steps forward to pull them both into a hug. “How are you?”

“We’re doing pretty great,” Clarke tells her as they break out of the hug. “Nothing to complain about. How are you and Monty doing?”

Harper grins. “We’re great. Nothing to complain about either.”

“That’s awesome. And now it’s Halloween, possibly the best day of the year.”

Harper nods and laughs quietly. “That it is. I’m assuming Madi and Jordan have already found each other by now?”

“Probably. It’s like they have some sort of gravitational pull toward each other.”

“That would not surprise me.”

Seconds later, the tapping of feet against the hardwood floor draws Bellamy’s attention away from the conversation going on in front of him. He turns to see Madi and Jordan approaching fast, wide smiles on both their faces and water dripping from their hair.

He reaches out in time to steady the both of them as they stop, panting heavily from running. “You two look like you had fun,” he remarks, grabbing a nearby towel and proceeding to dry their hair like he saw Clarke do last year.

“We went apple bobbing,” Jordan tells him with an excited grin.

Bellamy’s eyes go wide playfully. “You did? That’s awesome.” He turns toward Madi. “I’m assuming you did as well seeing as how wet your hair is?”

Madi nods. “Mm-hmm. I finally did it. Mommy!” she speaks up, grabbing Clarke’s attention.

Clarke turns to them and smiles. “Hey, baby. Why are you all wet?”

“I went apple bobbing.”

Clarke’s eyes go wide, though hers is in genuine surprise. “You did? Madi, that’s awesome.”

“You hafta try it,” Madi tells her, using both her hands to brush some of her still damp strands of hair out of her face.

Clarke smiles down at her daughter. “Oh, I don’t know, Mads.”

“Please, mommy?” Madi begs, grabbing one of Clarke’s arms and trying to tug her over to the bucket of water and apples. “It’s really fun.”

“Yeah, Clarke,” Bellamy encourages her with a small smile, “it’s really fun.”

Clarke narrows her eyes playfully at him and turns back to Madi, letting out a heavy sigh as she’s dragged the rest of the way over to the bucket. “Alright, I guess I can try.”

Madi giggles, bouncing excitedly as she watches her mom move closer to the metal bucket and kneel in front of it.

Bellamy stifles his laugh at Madi’s enthusiasm, the two of them sharing a knowing look. They’ve been planning this moment for a while, and now it’s all about to come together. And he really hopes it works out in their favor.

He watches as Clarke pulls her hair back as well as she can so it doesn’t get too wet and then dunks her face into the cold water. She’s barely under the water when she lifts her head out with furrowed brows.

“There’s something else in there besides apples. I think someone might have lost some jewelry earlier.”

Bellamy feigns confusion, moving a little closer with Madi close at his side. “What is it?”

“I think it’s...actually I’m not entirely sure. Hang on.” She reaches into the bucket with one of her hands and pulls the object out, holding it in her palm and admiring it. “Oh wow. This is a gorgeous engagement ring.”

“It’s so pretty,” Madi gushes.

“Yeah, it is. I wonder who’s ring this is. They’re probably going crazy trying to find it. Babe, can you go ask around and see if anyone’s lost it? Though, I don’t know how they would have lost this while bobbing for apples.”

Well, it’s now or never.

Bellamy takes a deep breath and kneels so he’s directly in front of her Clarke. “Actually, I think I already know who it belongs to.”

Her brows furrow together tightly. “Really? Who?”

“You.”

Clarke’s eyes go wide. “Me? This isn’t...wait. Bellamy…?”

He smiles softly at her, grabbing the ring from her palm and holding it between two fingers. “I am madly in love with you, Clarke. And I love Madi as if she was my own. I want to spend forever with you. I want to experience so many more Halloween’s with you. I can’t imagine not having you and Madi in my life. Will you marry me?”

Clarke’s quiet as she watches him, her eyes filled with tears and an expression he can’t quite discern on her face. Her eyes drift up to her daughter. “Madi, you’re okay with this?”

The girl in question leans forward against his shoulder, practically laying on him. “Yeah, I’m okay with it.”

Clarke smiles brightly. “Well then, so am I.” She turns her attention back to him, her smile widening. “Yes, Bellamy, I will marry you.”

His entire face breaks out into a grin as he slides the ring onto Clarke’s finger and then pulls her in for a searing kiss. Madi jumps on them a moment later, causing them to pull away and break into laughter. Clarke drags Madi into her lap and starts tickling her, causing Madi to laugh even harder. Which makes both of them laugh harder as well.

He’s vaguely aware of the clapping coming from their friends now surrounding them. No doubt they’re all going to start offering their congratulations as soon as they get up off the floor. But Bellamy’s only focused on his two favorite girls in front of him.

“Bellamy?”

“Yes, Madi?”

The seven-year-old looks up at him with a serious expression, one that reminds him so much of Clarke. She tilts her head a little. “Um...now that...uh...now that you’re gonna marry my mom, does that mean...um...I already have a dad, but...can I...can I call you ‘dad’ too?”

He smiles softly, casting a quick glance up at Clarke to see her looking in her daughter’s direction with a teary smile. He returns his gaze to Madi, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. “I would love it if you called me ‘dad’. But only if it’s something you want to do and are comfortable with. Or you can call me something else if you want.”

Madi smiles brightly and then launches herself into his arms, hugging him tightly. “I love you, dad.”

He returns the hug, holding her close. “I love you too, Madi.” He looks at Clarke—his  _ fiance _ —and gestures for her to join the hug. She does with zero hesitation and he gladly wraps an arm around her, dropping a kiss to her forehead and snuggling in close. He’s certainly starting to see the appeal of Halloween.

**Author's Note:**

> So? What did you think? Let me know in a review down below. I'd love to hear your thoughts.
> 
> Until next time,  
> Jellybean96 out!


End file.
